


Зимний Солдат

by natalia_alianova_romanova_01



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chronic Pain, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natalia_alianova_romanova_01/pseuds/natalia_alianova_romanova_01
Summary: Bucky suffers from chronic pain and he’s suffering from a flare up. Steve comes home from a mission and finds Bucky bed-ridden and comforts him.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Зимний Солдат

Bucky rolled over in his bed and he winced slightly, trying to keep himself together. He shifted his shoulder painfully, trying to find the perfect spot in which it wouldn’t be in horrible pain. Stabbing pain shot from his shoulder down to his elbow, rendering him unable to move his arm whatsoever. He closed his eyes, trying to blink away the tears that were forming. Once he finally found the perfect position, he let out a shaky sigh and tried to focus on his breathing. He counted his breaths the way insomniacs count sheep. This was the way he grounded himself when Hydra had their hands on him… 

There were the sounds of keys opening the front door and Bucky jumped at the sound. A flash of piercing pain overwhelmed him and he groaned at the feeling. He curled into the fetal position, closing his eyes to focus on anything other than the pain that refused to leave him alone. 

“Bucky? Why are all the lights off?” a voice asked from the living room. Bucky recognized the sound as Steve’s voice and his spirits were lifted slightly. He looked and he saw light streaming through the living room under his bedroom door. Steve dropped some bags off in the kitchen and walked over to Bucky’s room, quietly knocking on the door. “Everything okay in there?”

Bucky tightly shut his eyes as he tried to form the words. His head felt like it had been replaced with cotton and his thoughts were miles away from one another. “I’m...sick…” he managed to say, but it came out in a whisper rather than a statement. 

“Do you need anything?” Steve asked, his voice saturated by concern. This tone was very comforting, as very few people had ever expressed that much concern. 

Bucky tried to form the words but they refused to cooperate with him. His mind was fuzzy and he could only focus on one word at a time, not the entire sentence. After several moments of radio silence, Steve knocked on the door again and said, “Is it alright if I come in? I just want to make sure you’re alright.”

Bucky tried to respond and say that Steve should come in, but the words never came out. Worried by the silence and what it could mean, Steve opened the door slowly and announced his presence with a small, “Hey Buck,” because he knew Bucky was sensitive to people sneaking up on him. Bucky opened his eyes and saw Steve’s frame and smiled weakly. Another flash of splitting pain surged through his shoulder and he quickly closed his eyes again, breathing through the pain. Steve closed the door and rushed to Bucky’s side, getting down on the floor and sitting down next to the bed. 

Bucky tried to shift and let out a groan. Embarrassed by his outward expression of pain, he cleared his throat and sighed. “What happened? Is everything alright?”

“I-I’m fine,” Bucky responded softly, trying to say it as quickly as possible in a vain attempt to change the subject. He hoped that Steve wouldn’t ask any more questions about it. He just wanted to go to sleep and maybe, just maybe, they could move on from this. He hated bringing attention to himself when he was going through a pain flare up. In his Hydra days, he couldn’t express pain, no matter how excruciating the flare up was. Maybe he carried that with him, years later…

“No you’re not, Buck. You’re bed-ridden and in pain. Let me help,” Steve responded, his voice heavy with concern and thinly veiled fear. Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle. Steve was always the worrier and never left his side, even though Bucky was supposed to be the one protecting Steve. I guess Steve didn’t need much protecting these days, however.

“Steve...it’s nothing...it’s just my shoulder,” Bucky said, struggling to get the words out. Tearing pain clouded his mental faculties and always made speaking difficult for him. 

“There has to be something I can do, I can put ice on it or grab some ibuprofen? I think Nat has some in the medicine cabinet-”

“No, it’s alright...ibuprofen doesn’t help anyway…”

“I could grab that heating blanket from Nat’s room? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. I think I have some...oh what’s that stuff called? I think it’s called novacaine? I don’t know, Nat brought it over when I pulled my bicep a few weeks back. That works wonders,” Steve continued, desperately trying to get Bucky to accept help. Just this once, please. Bucky had had chronic pain in his shoulder since they were kids. They all brushed it off as some injury sustained in normal childhood rough-housing, but it only got worse over time. After decades of them going through this together, Steve understood his pain. 

“The...the heating blanket would be nice…” he responded sheepishly. He always slept better with weight on him. It was comforting, it made him feel safe. After everything that happened, a feeling of safety was something he desperately needed. 

Steve nodded and quietly left the room, closing the door gently so as not to startle Bucky. A few moments later, he returned with a green blanket in his arms. He closed the door again and opened the blanket. He tossed it over Bucky and said, “How much heat? There’s 3 bars on it, is that okay?”

“That’s fine, Steve, thank you,” Bucky said, moving it slightly so it warms up his aching shoulder cuff and neck. The weight of his metal arm always pulled on his ligaments and made everything incredibly painful. On top of this, he was born with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder that causes loose ligaments. His joints ache because his bones dislocate often, and so he suffers from chronic pain. With the EDS, muscle strain, and phantom pains, he has a lot of chronic pain to deal with on a daily basis. He’s never been a stranger to rubbing novacaine on his shoulder and taking arnica tablets in a vain attempt to feel some relief. In fact, he’s tried just about everything. From acupuncture, chiropractors, massage therapists, aromatherapy, physical therapy, essential oils, CBD oil, epsom salts, peppermint tea, yoga, green tea, kale smoothies, hydrotherapy, TENS machines, everything. Despite everything he’s tried, nothing has worked. Steve being there by his side throughout the years hasn’t taken away the pain, but it’s a great distraction and emotional comfort to him. 

“Is there anything else I can do?” Steve asked tenderly. He sat back down next to the bed and rested his head against the bed. 

“Just stay with me,” Bucky said softly, letting out a sigh and clutching the blanket harder, pressing it tightly against his aching shoulder. 

“I’m with you until the end of the line, Buck,” Steve said with a smile. The room was too dark for him to see it, but Bucky knew that distinctive, soft smile Steve always had when he said that.


End file.
